In Girl Scouts we try to make all activities affordable for all the girls in the troop. When your troop has big travel goals that takes some extra planning! Most troops try to pay for all the expenses for the girls and the Safetywise number of trained adults who go on the trip to San Francisco. Volunteer Essentials says for travel you must have Two unrelated adults (at least one of whom is female) for up to 16 juniors. At least one adult should have current First Aid/CPR, Let’s Camp and Troop Tripping Training and both should be registered and background checked.

Lower the Cost
First, reduce the budget for the trip as much as you can. With good planning the whole trip can cost as little as $350 per person from San Diego. (Airfare might be more or less from other cities.)

Begin by brainstorming all the costs of the event with your troop:
transportation: airfare or drive (include parking & gas and consider the time)
lodging: hotel, hostel, airb&b, staying with someone you know, camping
food: restaurants, cook your own meals
activities:
1) free things like exploring Golden Gate Park, visiting Chinatown, touring a chocolate factory, hiking to Coit Tower, going to Alamo Park, seeing the sea lions at Pier 39
2) or inexpensive things like a cable car ride, taking paddleboats out on Swan Lake, riding a carousel at Pier 39, exploring the ships at the Maritime Museum, buying kites in Chinatown and flying them at the Presidio, or visiting Musee Mechanique.
3) or more expensive things like touring Alcatraz, going to the Aquarium or Madame Tussauds Wax Museum or the Exploratorium, or riding a Hop On/Hop Off Bus, or taking a boat trip around the harbor
dates: The bridging event is $50. You might consider going on a different weekend and avoiding this expense! You can walk across the Golden Gate Bridge anytime.

You can show them that there are many ways to reduce the cost of the trip by adjusting the plans for the trip or the number of days you stay. It’s possible to fly in on Friday or Saturday morning and fly home Saturday or Sunday evening and have a great time! Show them that some expenses, like lodging and meals, multiply when you stay an extra day but transportation will stay the same. If you stay at the SF Girl Scout property or in a hostel or a rented apartment you can cook your own dinners and pack your own lunch and save money on meals. Most hostels and many hotels offer free breakfast. Eating in Chinatown or splitting some pizzas or sharing large meals is a very affordable way to eat dinner. Explain that if you end up earning more money then you could add in a more expensive activity or meal choice but if you don’t then you can do more free things and make more inexpensive meal choices. If this trip is still out of reach you may have to make it a road trip instead of flying or pick a closer city for your bridging adventure.

Fundraising
Next start brainstorming ways that you can earn the money for the trip! Set big goals for nut and cookie sales. Invite top cookie sellers to come talk to the troop about their tips. Get as many cookie site sales as you can (many open up toward the end of the sale). Practice asking all your customers to contribute to Operation Thin Mint. Make signs that share your enthusiasm for the trip “We are selling cookies so that we can travel to San Francisco!” Go back to good customers for resale. Visit businesses and fire stations. Be sure to sell nuts too, there is a high profit per can for troops. Remember, all the money earned from product sales and fundraising activities belongs to the whole troop, not to individual girls.

Recycle all year. Ask neighbors if you can collect their cans every week. Ask if you can put recycling boxes in every classroom and collect the cans and bottles each week. Ask the girls to talk at an assembly about why recycling is important and what your troop is going to do with the money they earn. (One girl in our area earned $3000 to put toward a Destination trip in a single year by using these recycling tips!)

Money Earning Projects
There are lots of good ideas for fundraising ideas on the Money Earning Project Proposal form (available on the girl scout website). As juniors you are allowed two extra money earning projects per year besides selling cookies and nuts and recycling. Troop Garage Sales can net big profits if you plan in advance and collect things to sell from neighbors as well as girls in the troop. Advertise with signs around the neighborhood and with arrows showing the way from major streets. Car washes, spaghetti dinner or pancake breakfast can be very profitable (and work best if you pre-sell tickets.) Hold a Father/Daughter dance or Songfest or run a Workshop for your service unit. Workshops in Girl Scout Ways, Sports Fun Days, Badges or Journey activities are always very popular (and include only a few expenses). Offer gift wrapping or a babysitting night over the holidays. Several girls can team together to offer child care at the service unit meetings and ask for donations. Look for more ideas on the money earning project proposal form and plan far ahead to get the best attendance and biggest return on your investment of time!

If you must ask parents for money ask for small amounts and spread it over many months to make it easier. Ask the girls if they’d like to set up a scholarship fund within the troop and help pay the parent contribution for troop members who are struggling. Keep individual financial situations private but come up with solutions as a group. Reach out to a local service organization like Rotary, Elks or Lions or a local business and see if they’d be willing to offer a scholarship for the trip. Make every effort to reduce the cost of the trip and fundraise as a troop to reach your goals rather than excluding anyone because they can’t afford to go!

Finally, if your girls learn that not earning enough means having to delay the trip for another year…that’s a really valuable lesson too!